Game ball



Jam 17, 1540 W. A. SONNETT ET AL GAME BALL Filed Aug. l, 1947' W am a 66md Y mm 0M/ .ma

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Patented `Ian. 17, 1950 William A. snnett ana William J. sonnetf; Aaa,ohml Thepresent linvention re1atesto -infiatable game balls :such asbasket-ba11s,--- foot-balls, and

lated-seamfor the'cover of agame'ballwhich insures betterv grippingandholdingfofthe ball` when it is .caught and thrown and'in theparticular cases of .foot-balls. and soccer-balls providesl an-improvedfrictionalI contact between the ballseamsanda player's-shoe when theball is being` kicked.

Another object of the invention is toprovideasimulated seam-for a gameball' which has azbot-` tom or trough portioncompr-ising the surfacezofthe VVouter layeroftheball carcass-and wherein the edges Ofadjacentcover sections areeach:

turnedzdownfinto one-ofj a-'pair of spaced grooves extending alongand-defining the margins for the seam bottom.

A further object. of the invention is to provide a durable seam for gameballs having .the foregoing'characteristics 'which is simplein'construction and inexpensive to manufacture';

Other objects of ourVinventionwill-be apparent from the followingspecification and the accompanying drawings whereini:

. Fig.;1` is an. elevational viewfiof our g'ame`1b`al1 illustrating ourimproved seam construction.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the inflated carcass to which the coverSections are secured.

Fig. 3 is a fragmental, cross sectional view of a cover section for ourball.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional View taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmental plan View of a section of our finishedgame ball showing the intersection of two seams there-for.

The embodiment of our invention is particularly adapted for use inconnection with infiatable game or play balls having a molded flexiblecarcass and a number of leather -or imitation leather cover Sectionsadhesively fastened or otherwise secured to the carcass. With referenceto the drawings wherein like numerals indicate similar parts ahollow-sphercal carcass 1 is built up from a number of layers of fabricmaterials 8 (Fig. 4) having Vulcanized rubber layers 9 interposedtherebetween. The carcass has an outer layer IO of vulcanized rubberwhose outer surface is formed with a number of pairs of spaced groovesll and |2 which define on the surface of-the carcassthe position of`lthe seams-forzther nished-balL With particular reference to Figsf.l'and fitw'ill'be'noted that thegroovesare inset inthe-outer rubberlayer 'of-ithe-balt carcassamrV have positioned betweenthem-.azsmoothsurfaoe |3-which 1ies-onthesame-radius as that of-the`overall outer surface' of the carcass The carcassis prefer-ably rmoldedby-placing'ia: number of' alternate layers of' textiie vmateriaL-andunvulcanized-.rubber in= a-heated= 'mold,z infiati-ng'v the carcasswithinthe'moldandfithereaftenapplying. yheat lto the-mold'tovvulcanizethesrubber layers. During thisprocess a VVseries of--ri-bslprojectinginwardly from .the interior., carcass-formingsurfaceofthe moldl-may-producethe pairfs or grooves .Il and l2 in thecascassduringthe molding. process. Obviouslye our ball carcass could beformed with a moldable out'ersurface` by-methods other than that setforth herein or' the pairs of grooves may be formed in a complete'd ballcarcass by're-heating'the'surfacei'porti'o'n of the ball' where thepairs 'of grooves are' to' be formed and' impressing'said surfaceporti'on' with a' suitable groove forming mold.

A^ number of indepen'dent 'coverise'ctions Mr'are' cem'ented orotherwise 'secured 'i'rf spaced' apart relationshp toV the foutersurface' of' the "carcass 'I and as illustrated'in Fig. 3 thefmarginaledge portions |5 of the covers are thinli'ed'lor'reduce'd' byskiving |6made in the interior` edgeportions of' the 'said' covers; The skivededgep'ortion'is shown in Fig. 3 as having half the thickness of thecover 14 said thickness being equal to the width of the grooves ll andl2 formed in the carcass so that when the covers are secured to thecarcass the adhesively treated reduced portions of the cover may beturned downwardly into the grooves and secured therein by the adhesive.

It will therefore be noted that a simulated seam is provided for ourgame ball which has a bottom or trough portion consisting of the smoothand exposed rubber surface |3 of the ball carcass and that the spaced,marginal edges of adjacent cover sections are turned downwardly andadhesively secured in the spaced grooves ll and l2 formed in the coversurface on each side of the smooth section |3 for the purpose of formnga durable, inexpensive imitation seam that insures better gripping andholding of the game ball when it is caught or thrown.

What is claimed is:

1. A game ball having an nfiatable, molded carcass, a connected seriesof spaced double grooves formed in the outer surface of the carcass, anda casing for said carcass comprising a number of independent, spacedapart sections secured to the carcass and each having a downturnedmarginal edge snugly positioned in adjacent, connected grooves.

2. A game ball having an infiatable, molded carcass, a connected seriesof pairs of spaced grooves formed in the outer surface of the carcass,and a casing f-or said carcass comprising a number of independent,spaced apart sections secured to the carcass, and each having a reduced,downturned marginal edge snugly positioned in adjacent, connectedgrooves whereby a series of imitation seams are formed between adjacentcasing sections each provided with a bottom formed by the carcasssurface between each pair of grooves.

3. A game ball having an infiatable, rubber carcass, a connected seriesof pairs of spaced grooves formed in the outer surface of the carcass,

and a casing for said carcass comprising a number of independent, spacedapart sections adhesively secured to the carcass, and each having areduced, downturned marginal edge snugly positioned in adjacentpositioned, connected grooves and adhesively secured therein whereby aseries of imitation seams are formed between adjacent casing sectionseach provided with marginal edges formed by the downturned portions ofadjacent casing sections and a recessed bottom formed between themarginal edges by the carcass surface disposed between a pair ofgrooves.

4. A game ball comprising an infiatable, molded carcass having a smoothouter surface broken only by a connected series of side by side doublegrooves formed therein, the double grooves of each series definingbetween them on said carcass surface a narrow exterior trough portionfor the ball seam that is interconnected with the trough portions formedby the remaining series of side by side double grooves, and a cover forthe carcass having a number 'of independent sections adhesively securedto the said carcass surface and spaced apart by the narrow troughportions, each section having a downturned marginal edge snuglypositioned in adjacent interconnected grooves, and means for adhesivelysecuring the downturned marginal edges of the sections in theirrespective interconnected grooves.

5. A game ball as set forth in claim 4 wherein the downturned marginaledges of the sections 4 are reduced in width and are snugly positionedin adjacent interconnected grooves.

6. A seam construction for game bails comprising an inflatable, moldedcarcass having a number of nonintersecting,end1ess grooves formedtherein and each groove having a closed configuration and in proximityto adjacent'l endless grooves, continuous sidewalls for each groove, abottomwall interconnecting the sidewalls, a number` of independent coversections each having its marginal edge portion turned inwardly into itsrespective endless groove, and means adhesively securing the marginaledge portion of each cover section to the sidewalls and bottomwall ofits respective endless groove.

7. A game ball comprising an inflatable, molded carcass having a numberof nonintersecting, endless grooves formed therein, each groove havingcontinuous sidewalls extending inwardly into the carcass and to thebottom of the groove interconnecting the said sidewalls, a number ofindependent cover sections each having its margina] edge portion turnedinwardly into the respective endless groove with adhesive Securing themargnal edge portion of the cover section to the sides and bottom of therespective endless groove.

8. A -game ball comprising an infiatable, molded carcass having a numberof endless, nonintersecting grooves formed therein, each groove havingcontinuous sidewalls extending inwardly into the carcass and to thebottom of the groove interconnecting the said sidewalls, a number ofindependent cover sections each having its marginal edge portion turnedinwardly into the respective endless groove with adhesive securing themarginal edge portion of the cover section to the sides and bottom ofthe respective endless groove, whereby the bottom interconnecting thesidewalls in each groove protects the edge of an independent coversection.

WILLIAM A. SONNETT. WILLIAM J. SONNETT.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Denkert Jan. 10, 1939Number

